Apparatus for producing copies



June 3, 1969 :w. LIMBERGER APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING COPIES Filed April19, 1966 United States Patent L Int. Cl. Gll3g 15/04 Us. 01. 355-3ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for producing copies of anoriginal by the electro-photographic method in which the housing of theapparatus is divided into a number of superimposed zones. At one end ofthe upper surface of the housing a delivery slot is formed fordischarging copies from the housing. Adjacent the delivery slot withinthe topmost zone in the housing is a fan which draws air into the zonethrough a vent hole at the opposite end with the air passing over heatemitting devices before combining with a radiation heater for improvingthe drying efiiciency for the copies passing to the delivery slot.

The invention relates to an apparatus for producing copies, comprisingan exposure device, a developing device, and a sheet feeding mechanism.

The said apparatus may comprise a control which initiates certainoperational sequences automatically, especially with regard to the sheetfeed mechanism and the application of an original to the exposuredevice. The exposure device provided comprises conveniently atransparent plate for the original and a transparent guide for thecopying material to be exposed, with at least one light source, anobjective and a deflecting mirror, as well as the exposeure plate beingarranged in the upper wall of the housing between these two parts.

More particularly, the invention relates to an automatic apparatus forproducing copies according to the electro-photographic method.

It is already known, according to the electro-photographic method, tocharge, expose and develop copying material and more particularly sheetsof such material, whereupon the developing particles applied thereto,for example, pigments retained by electrostatic forces, are burned infor fixing the picture.

The present invention has the object of providing an automatic orautomatically operating apparatus, wherein a compact construction isachieved by means of the mutual arrangement of its component parts, andwherein disadvantageous interacting effects are avoided.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus of thekind hereinbefore mentioned in which the performance can be particularlyfavourably utilized, particularly with regard to the thermal treatmentof the copying materials and preferably the drying thereof.

According to the invention, these and related objects are realized bydividing the housing into four superimposed zones, separated at leastpartly by horizontal partitions, wherein the heat radiating devices,such as light sources, the drive motor, or a radiation heater, arearranged in the topmost zone, the developing device in the next lowerzone, a horizontal chamber of the exposure device, terminating at theguide, in the third zone from the top, and finally at the bottom,divided by housing walls, the stacking arrangement for the copyingmaterial and roller arrangements for the cam controls.

It is an essential feature of the invention that the space of thetopmost zone forms an air channel leading to a 2 Claims 3,447,870Patented June 3, 1969 delivery device for the copying material at therear of the apparatus with a fan located in front thereof, and in that aflow of cooling air enters through an opening in the front of thischamber, carrying along the heat from the heat radiating devices towardsthe radiation heater so that its efiiciency is increased. In this way,the heat generated in the apparatus is additively and functionally usedfor producing a copy. This novel feature is of relevant importance.

Preferably, the delivery device extends upwardly over the top of theapparatus in the form of a chimney, giving rise to a particularlyfavourable air flow.

The whole construction of the automatic apparatus has a particularlyfavourable ventilation, wherein the thermal effects of radiating parts,such as the motor, maybe easily evacuated and functionally utilized, bybeing applied additively to the radiating heater which elfects thefixing of the picture.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, withreference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a sectionalized side elevation of the apparatus, indicatingmerely the parts necessary for eX- plaining the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram.

FIG. 1 shows the apparatus generally. Levers of the control device arelocated in another plane parallel to the plane of the drawing than, forexample, the chambers acting as guides for the sheet material.

Rollers, transport rollers, dividing or guide walls, and other elementsor parts arranged in the housing, are located and fixed in housing sidewalls extending parallel to the plane of the drawing. Rollers may beso-called disk rollers, having disks or sections arranged on the sameshaft, wherein individual disks may be offset relative to disks ofadjacent rollers so as to produce parts which can be brought into andout of engagement with each other.

The term drive motor used in the following description, includes boththe power source and the switching means required for producing thedriving motion.

The automatic device according to the invention has a housing,comprising an upper surface 1, a front 2, a rear wall 3, a bottom plate4, which may be equipped With legs 5 and 6. The upper surface 1 hasholes 7, 8, 9, 10 therein, through which project guide rollers 11, 12,13, 14 mounted in side walls of the housing, extending parallel to theplane of the drawing; these guide rollers protrude beyond the said uppersurface 1 with a peripheral section, amounting, for example, to 1 or 2millimetres.

Between the said holes 7, 8, and the guide rollers 11, 12, the uppersurface is equipped with a transparent exposure plate 15, having a widthat least equal to that of the copying material to be processed, and overwhich an original to .be copied is guided.

The exposure plate is irradiated from below by at least one light source16 arranged within the housing, for

example by a tubular lamp, arranged in a reflector 17 a which directsthe radiation towards the exposure plate 15, but is located outside thepicture beam, indicated by a dash-dot line 18. This beam impinges on adeflecting mirror 19, arranged, for example, on a three-point suspensionon a plate 19' fixed in the housing. The beam passes via the miror 19through an intermediate partition or wall 20, having an orifice 21; thisorifice has a width corresponding to the picture beam. Behind the mirror19, there is an objective lens 22.

The exposure beam has an L-shaped configuration and passes along ahorizontal path 23 to a guide surface 24, which is also transparent inthe same way as the exposure plate 15. The substantially verticallylocated guide surface 24 defines a channel with the upper wall 20 andthe lower wall 25. These walls define between themselves the horizontalsection of the L-shaped exposure beam towards the top and bottom betweenwall portions of the housing, extending parallel to the plane of thedrawing and mounted on the housing walls. In addition, the guide surface24 defines also a section of a transport path for the copying material,passing through the housing and described more fully further below.

The exposure device comprises contact rollers 26, 27 arranged above theguide rollers 11, 12 arranged in a housing-shaped frame and held incontact by means of a spring.

It is merely mentioned that, for example, the lower rollers 11, 12 andthe said rollers 13, 14, as well as other revolving parts describedfurther below, are driven by a drive, comprising a cable 29, guided onthe rollers and driven by a motor 30. The motor may also comprise thepower source for its operation. The contact rollers 26, 27 are mountedin oblong holes 62, 63 of the frame 28 and are urged in a downwarddirection by spring means 64. These spring means 64 rest in their centreon an abutment 65 in the housing 28 and press with their outer end onthe.

shafts or stub shafts of the contact rollers 26, 27. The saidhousing-shaped frame 28 may be mounted detachably on the upper surface 1of the main housing.

The upper zone of the housing forms a space above a shutter plane 31,shown only in part, with a motor 30 arranged thereabove, adapted todrive the revolving parts of the apparatus by means of a cable drive 29.

The developing section 58 is located underneath this part 32.

As may be seen from FIG. 1 the development device 32 is mounted on thepartition 20. A cover 33 has an opening 34 above which is arranged thedelivery socket of a storage tank 35 for developer fluid or for pigment.The container may be opened from the outside by known means, for exampleby a push button.

Under the partition 25 is a chamber, accessible through a flap 36 hingedat 66 to the front wall 2, and containing a drawer-shaped container witha stack 37 of sheets of copying material. This drawer-shaped containermay have the form of a slide, consisting of a base plate 67, side walls68 and an end wall, shown, for example, at 38.

A joint 69 is arranged on the base plate 67 and carries a pivotablestack support plate 70. This plate 70 is anchored via springs 71 on asupport 72 arranged in upwardly projecting lugs 73 of the side walls 68,for example, in the form of a bar bridging the stack. Moreover, thestack side walls 68 are connected by a rod-shaped support 74, againstwhich the top sheet of the stack is pressed when the stack is outsidethe housing.

A stop limits the movement of the slide into the housing. The slide isassociated with actuating means, shown generally at 39, for removing thetop sheet from the stack 39. Several rollers are mounted in assemblywalls, located parallel to the side walls; these rollers form part ofthe unit 39. Above the inserted stack 37 near its end, locatedsubstantially in the centre of the housing, there is an intermittentlyactuable delivery roller 75, which is freely rotatably mounted and actson the topmost sheet of the stack. The lower peripheral section of theroller 75 is slightly lower than the support 74.

As viewed in the direction of movement of the material, downstream ofthe stacking mechanism, there is the said unit 39, forming the start ofa transport section, equipped with upper and lower guides 76, 77,equipped with perforations. Through these perforation extend portions ofdriven rollers 78, 79 and a contact roller 80, and a control cam roller81, respectively. These rollers are mounted in the housing side walls.Pivotable about the shaft 82 of the contact roller 80 is a lever 83,equipped with a mounting for a spindle 84 and a drive disk 85, drivencontinuously by the contact roller 80. The arrangement of the controldisk 85 is such that, when the end 86 of the lever 83, projecting fromthe housing wall, is rotated downwardly, the said control disk 85 makescontact with the delivery roller 75. The lever 83 is pulled in theupward I direction by a spring 87 fixed in the housing.

The control unit will not be described in detail. It need only bementioned that the control cam roller carries out its control functionsby means of linkages '88 movable about the fixed spindle 87, on the onehand, in order to keep closed the switch 89 after the end 86 of theleverhas been released, and on the other hand, in order to release theexposure device 7 from a lock, connected by a link 90 with the linkagesystem 83.

From the parts of the unit 39, a track with the guide member 92 anddrive and transport rollers 93, 94 for the sheet of copying materialleads to the guide 24 where an original is exposed on to the sheet ofcopying material. Further transport rollers 95, 96 and guides 91 leadfrom the said guide 24 to the inlet 40 of the developing device 32.

It should be pointed out that the unit 39 may also comprise elements,such as a charging device 41, where electro-photographic material is tobe processed. Above the outlet 42 of the developing device, there is apair of transport and squeeze rollers 43, 44 which are'also driven bythe cable drive 29. Above these rollers, the transport path continuesbetween guide members 45, 46, 47 to the driven pairs of rollers 48, 49.Particularly the said guide element 45, but preferably also the otherguide elements, are equipped with perforations. They may consist ofstrips, wires or perforated plates. Above the said guide member 45, theradiation heater is arranged, for example in a reflector '51 or at acertain direction of radiation, so as to heat the guide path.

A fan 52 is arranged within the zone of the guide members 46, 47 betweenthe assembly walls, delivering drying air obliquely upwardly in thedirection indicated by the arrow 53. Within the zone of and above therollers 48, 49, the whole housing has a chimney-like raised projection54 with a leftwardly directed delivery slot 55. Transport rollers 56, 57driven as indicated by the arrows, are mounted in front of this deliveryslot. Between the pairs of transport rollers 48, 49, and 56, 57 thereare preferably vertical, web-shaped or wire-shaped guide members 58,which permit the flow of air in the vertical direction and guide thecopying material to the rollers 56, 57.

The rollers 48, 49, 56, 57, are, as also the other rollers in theapparatus, preferably disk-type rollers, permitting a flow of air topass therethrough.

It should be pointed out that the upper housing compartment has, behindan air inlet 59, arranged at the top of the front wall 2, a chambercontaining in sequence upstream of the radiation heater 50 the heatgenerating parts of the apparatus, namely the light source 16 and themotor 30. The arrangement of the fan 52 at the end of the chamberresults in an air flow in the direction of the arrows 60.

Preferably, the device is used for processing electrophotographicmaterial, but the drawing shows only the parts essential for explainingthe present invention. Thus, the connection for connecting a chargingstation 41 to a high voltage source or the like, are not shown, becauseknown means can be used for this purpose.

Under the delivery slot are support bars 61, along.

which the delivered copying material is advanced, and between which thesheets can be easily gripped. These bars are arranged in spacedrelationship, parallel to each other, extending from the bottom edge ofthe slot 55.

FIG. 2 shows diagrammatically the electric circuit.

. Several circuits are connected to the terminals, the parts of whichare marked with the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1. The circuitswith the parts 16, 30, 50, .52 are operable by a switch 99 not shown indetail in FIG. 1, when the apparatus is taken into use. The chargingdevice 41 is adapted to be switched on by a separate switch 89 indicatedas such in FIG. 1. The electrical connections are shown in FIG. 2.

The L-shaped exposure beam is determined by the pic ture beams 18 and23, so that it can be seen that the horizontal section, locatedlaterally between side walls of the apparatus, is closed on the top andbottom by partitions 20, and by the guide 24. The controls and drivingcomponents 83 through 88 and 90 are laterally of the chambers for theexposure beam. Of importance is the configuration of the upper zone ofthe arrangement above the surface 31, located in the housing side walls,or its extension, determined, for example, mainly by the cover 33 of theexposure device 32. The parallel upper zone in the housing under the topcover 1 is accessible from the front through at least one Opening 59,through which air may enter in the direction of the row of arrows 60,carrying along the heat generated by the light source 16, the motor andthe radiation heater and escaping under the action of the fan 52 intothe chimney 54. The upwardly directed construction of the chimney 54supports not only the escape of heated air towards the top to thedelivery slot 55, but also ensures that the copying material passingthrough the chimney is exposed to the hot air on both sides so that amaximum eifect is produced with the smallest possible fan performances.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for producing copies from an original on copyingmaterial, comprising a housing having an upper surface, side walls, afront wall and a rear wall; said housing being arranged to contain anexposure device having a vertically extending part, a developing device,a sheet feeding mechanism, driving means including a drive motor andtransport components with said drive motor being arranged for drivingsaid components for transporting copies and the original in theapparatus, light sources for the exposure of the original, a radiationheater for treating the exposed and developed copying material, astacking device for the copying material adjacent said sheet feedingmechanism; a plurality of at least partially extending horizontalpartitions disposed within said housing and dividing the interiorthereof into a plurality of superimposed zones including a topmost zonebeing arranged to contain a number of heat emitting devices and saidradiation device; said front wall of said housing having a vent holetherein opening into the topmost zone within said housing; said uppersurface of said housing having a delivery slot therein communicatingwith the topmost zone and being located at the opposite end of saidtopmost zone from the vent hole; said upper surface of said housingcomprising a transparent support for originals being positioned at theopposite end of said upper surface from said delivery slot, saidtransparent support forming the upper end of the vertical part of saidexposure device; a fan disposed within the topmost zone in said housingand being located at the end of said hous ing adjacent the delivery slotwhereby said fan is arranged to draw air into said topmost zone throughthe vent hole in the opposite end of said housing for absorbing heatfrom the heat emitting devices lcated within the topmost zone and forcombining the heated air with said radiation heater for thus improvingthe efliciency of the treatment of the exposed and developed copyingmaterial.

2. An apparatus, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said upper surfaceincludes a chimney-like upwardly directed projection extending over thewidth of said upper surface at the opposite end thereof from saidtransparent support, and said projection communicating with the topmostzone and containing the delivery slot from said housing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,005,388 10/1961 Limberger -1.7

JOHN M. HORAN, Primary Examiner.

A US. 01. X.R.

